Laura Benanti Opens Up About MY FAIR LADY, Motherhood, Melania and More!

Welcome to Backstage with Richard Ridge. I am sitting with one of Broadway's most beloved leading ladies

who is playing her dream role of Eliza Doolittle in Lincoln Center Theater's glorious production of the classic Learner and Loeb musical My Fair Lady

Please welcome Tony Award winner Laura Benanti. Well, first of all, thank you so much. Thank you

Letting us come to your dressing room here. This is glorious dressing room like now

It's also a playroom. It is also a playroom. Yeah, I don't know if you can see just the massive amounts of toys, but yeah, it's pretty great

On a two-show day. Yeah. Well, yeah, Ella had been coming in between shows Wednesdays and Saturdays, but that was before I was doing like quadruple duty

Exactly. So, but she, it's actually adorable. So if you ask Ella who her best friend is, she says Rosemary, Rosemary Harris, and they will hold hands and walk down the hall together, and then they eat lunch

And then Ella says, it's time for your nap and walks Rosemary to her room and shuts her

door. Okay. And then shushes people if they talk too loud. She's sleeping. Yeah

I was going to ask you, what a remarkable company of actors. What is it like sharing the state

with Harry and Alan and Rosemary and everybody else? Incredible. I mean, Harry is truly a remarkable

actor. You know, he has a very difficult task in front of him of playing a character that could be

incredibly unlikable. And he makes him so likable. You know, it's not to give away the ending

of our show, but it's hard. The way it ends is tricky for me sometimes because I look at his

face and I think, oh gosh, well, but he's so wonderful. He's a really wonderful actor. And Rosemary

of course, is an icon and getting her Lifetime Achievement Tony Award. You waited long enough

Tony's 91 years old. But she's getting it. Yeah, but she's getting it. But you know, it must be so

glorious because I know this has been a dream role of yours since. From what age? Four. Okay, so you listen to the cast album, the white album. Yes

We all called the white album, the Julian Andrews, Rex Harrison. I remember cast albums every cover

What was it like for you? What made it so magical and enchanting to listen to that

Well, I think it was a connection to my mother because my mother was an actress and

is a voice teacher and she loved Julie Andrews and it's something we did together

We would listen to the cast album. She would read me the insert. She would tell me the story

I never watched the movie because I would never betray Julian Andrews in such a fashion

And had quite a bit of shot in Freud when I found out that Julie Andrews won the Academy Award for Mary Poppins the same year, Audrey Hepburn was nominated for not singing

It's just shade from the 1950s. This is my aesthetic. It's just my fingers really on the pulse of what the people are talking about right now today

Julie winning the Oscar. Julie winning the Oscar for Mary Poppins. So yeah

So for me it was just a connection to my mom. And of course, the music is so beautiful

And there's just, Julie Andrews, her heart is in her voice, which is, you know, you can be the most proficient, most elastic, most athletic singer in the world and not have your soul in your voice

You know, she just, to me, it's like next level. Okay, so you get this finally, you get this role

Yes. So the Eliza you had in your head, all those years, how different is the one you're doing now than what you had your head

I thought I had in my head was like 20. And the Eliza I am on stage 39

But I'm, you know, the fact that I snuck in my dream role just shy of my 40th birthday is incredible

And, you know, it's also, and I've said this before, but it was a real lesson in letting go for me because when the revival first came around, I had just had Ella

And there was just no way that I was going to be able to shoulder new motherhood and this, like, very difficult role

I didn't even throw my hat in the ring for it, you know, which was so hard not to do because it'd been my dream

So when Bart called me after Lauren, you know, got a television show and was leaving

Lauren Ambrose, who originated the role here, you know, I was just over the moon that I would get an opportunity to play this character

And so, yes, so, you know, I made a joke about it, but certainly the character is different in that I have more life experience than I imagined I ever would in playing this part

And I don't think that that's a bad thing because, you know, in casting someone as young as Harry and someone as seasoned as myself, you know, you really change the story

It's not like a dirty old man praying on a teenager. It's, you know, it really speaks more to class and sex, sexism, as it were, gender

And then it does about age, you know, and to me that's the larger, more interesting conflict

is, you know, and what I think we're seeing play out in our own country right now, the idea of

women not being able to have agency over their own lives. And what is so gratifying to me about

this production is that ultimately she does. That's what I love what Bart Shere, your director

does. He takes these beautiful musicals and looks at them how they'll play now. Yes. Without changing

anything. Isn't that brilliant? It's the tone or something, right? Yeah, well, he, you know, I think

he's visually so stunning, which is why he's such a beautiful operatic director as well

He tells a story with a picture in a really remarkable way

And then, you know, he did reinstate the Pygmalion ending, which is not a traditional

ending for the musical. And so that shifts the dynamic quite a bit

And I think in his casting, and choosing an older Eliza and a younger Higgins, he has chosen

to put the microscope on class and gender and not on age

Yeah. I went back on Mother's Day. I literally had an outer body experience

I mean, it's such a beautiful musical to watch. And I just just to sit with the people that were there

I mean, there was every generation in that audience. There were grandmothers, mothers, fathers, sons

and just watching the sons lean in and take this journey. That's so funny that that's

That's the show you saw because I was laughing. Like the first few numbers you definitely were like oh man these dads do not want to be here And then by the end they were like laughing and crying and they were crying yeah no it really it was a real victory for nannas and moms everywhere yeah okay so rehearsals

for you was harry off making downtown abbey yes harry was making the the downton abbey film and so

i just rehearsed with jen ray more our incredible stage manager she played all the characters

we have in very good sexual chemistry i will tell you that right now um and that's been

Basically, I think I met with Bart like three times. I posted actually on my social media what my rehearsals are like, and that was not a joke

It was just me talking into the air, which fortunately I had a lot of experience with since I played opposite myself in Supergirl

So I am very used to acting with me. So was your first performance on stage

Yes. Like with Harry for the first time? We came in to rehearse two scenes that morning

and then I went on Broadway. But it works for the characters

It worked for the roles, right? These people are meeting each other for the first time. But, you know, I think it worked

for the first few weeks and then I think we both were like, it was just an adjustment period

where I was not Lauren Ambrose. I didn't know him. You know, I think

I brought in a very, very different dynamic to the show that he wasn't accustomed to

So then we had like a few weeks of like sort of dancing around each other weirdly. And then it came back around

and now we are having such a good time. Because it's just brilliant to watch you all work together

Thank you. It's really a joy. I mean, working with truly great actors, it's like playing pretend

You know, it's where you all time is lost and you're just in a totally different world

This is such a mammoth role. I remember talking to the late great Gwen Verde about sweet charity

My God. I had many sit downs with her. She was the best. Stop. You know, my mom taught her voice lessons

She did. that has to be like the best. Yeah, she said it was just incredible

And she gave my mom all sorts of advice about life and love

She was one of the best people ever. That's what I heard. But she said learning, you just don't learn the role of charity on stage

You have to learn the other role of charity backstage. I'm sure it's the same way with Eliza

No, I do not talk to the other actors. I do not. It's distracting

You don't like them. Yes, of course. I mean, you have to be, you know, my first job ever was

understudying Rebecca Luker. Yeah. She was Maria and the sound of music. I was her understudy

And she really taught me about being a leading lady. She was always so gracious and kind and knew everybody's name

And she did not act in any way like she was above everybody else

You know, she would come up like five flights of stairs to visit our chorus dressing room and chat with us

So I just do the opposite of that. No, I mean, there's a backstory because you never stop

Me, I don't. Like changing and going. that's what I mean. There's like two shows you do. Oh, I see what you're saying. You're not talking

about the dynamic of the company. You're talking about actually backage. I know what you do with your

company. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Well, Del Muskie is my dresser and we have a series of quick changes

that are, it's bonkers. It's on the moving platform in a tiny closet. And I think one of the

changes is like eight seconds. And then I have another one that's like 10 seconds and I have to

change a wig too. But honestly, after Gypsy, I could change my clothes in a tornado

All right, let's go back to your Broadway debut. I've been there for, I think, every opening

you've done in New York, from that to swing to everything. I know. So let's just talk about

what do you remember? They're so magical Broadway debuts. And you were so young. I was

And playing like another iconic Julie Andrews' role. Yeah. Well, I was, you know, I was the understudy

when we opened and I just was so happy to be in the ensemble and then I don't think we had like a second opening

so I you know I just it was an incredible thing that I was getting to play this character at I was 19 years old when I took over for Maria what do you remember about that first night on stage like coming down that hill oh well the first time I ever went on was actually Rebecca's vacation she went on for two weeks and I had what is now I now know it's called a vasovagal response and I had a I full-blown

full body sweat, tried to take off my clothes. No joke. I don't know why

And just got on the ground. And my dresser zipped me up and physically pushed me down the rolling staircase

And then I made it center stage. And I could see the reflection of my arms in the spotlight

Like I could see them shaking. And then I got them over my head. And then I could not get them down for the rest of the song

I left them there. I was like, I made it. And then I just sang the whole song with the classic Julian Andrew

arms not bad not great we were all there so you were terrific well thank you I got a lot

better after that but it was it was I was really scared and I had not been prior I probably

should have been nervous earlier that would have been helpful so this first performance

this first performance I was just you know that's 21 years later so I have with me

um you know a breadth of knowledge and successes and failures and I know that the worst thing that could happen is I would break my neck, did it

still here. So, you know, if I go up on a line or if I don't do something perfectly, that's life

I also knew I had my husband and my mother and my father in the audience. And it was very emotional for me, you know, when the turntable turned around and I could

hear everybody applauding for me and that so many people in the audience knew this story and

knew how badly I had wanted it. and then I got to be a mom and do this

I mean, it was probably, like, other than being married to my husband and having my child

it was probably one of the happiest moments of my life of feeling like

it's not like I sat at home as a child wanting to be a movie star. I wanted to be Julie Andrews

And this is like the next best thing to it. Now, your daughter has come to see the show

She saw the first act. She's seen the first act. The second act where we're like yelling at each other

probably not necessary right now, but she loves it. She says, Mama sings for the people

That's what I do for work. And then we say, what does daddy do? And she says email That a quote you could put on a poster Mama works sings for the people Sings for the people Yeah And today I was like I have to go to the show and she said you do two

When I said, yeah, I have two. Do you see an actress in the future

Oh God, yeah. It's horrible. Chelsea actually bought her a microscope and she, you know what she used it for

A picture of herself. That's the truth. She put a picture of herself underneath to see it closer

I was like, God damn it. Show business. Yeah, she's, you know what, whatever she does, she will excel

She's so special. Everyone thinks their kid is special, and, you know, every kid is special

But I just, I just love her so much. She makes me laugh so hard

My family and I were singing to her because she was like, now she is having tantrums when she wants something

So my mom was like, you can't always get what you want

And without missing a beat, Ella goes, I can. I'll send you the video

Yeah, I was like literally without missing a beat. She's got it down

She's got it. And now her other favorite thing to say is, you want to clap for me? I see an actress

Yeah, I know. I see a star. Same. Okay, let's talk about being a mom. How has that changed the way you look at your life, career, and your activism

Oh, all of it. So my life, any job has to be really meaningful in order for me to leave my child

I think it's made me a better actor because I'm constantly in touch with my emotions, joy

fear, whatever it might be. I feel it all the time because my, like a piece of my heart is just walking around outside

of my body all the time. And in terms of my activism, I've always considered myself an activist, maybe not always

but for the past 10 years or so I've considered myself an activist. But certainly now with my daughter, I want to leave a better world for her

And so it's inspired me and my work with Mayor Mitchell Campbell and our album

Let's talk about the album. Yeah, so we collaborated on an album called Singing You Home

It's gorgeous. Thank you. Children's Songs for Family Reunification. And it's got just an incredible roster of artists who donated their time

And all of the proceeds go to reuniting the family separated at the border

You know, this problem is getting worse, not better, since this no policy act

There have been over 800 allegations of child sexual abuse and three deaths

And so Mary Mitchell and I, you know, worked on that together. And, you know, you can get it wherever streaming music is sold

I highly recommend it. It's a great gift. It's dual language, but, you know, I think that any English-speaking person would enjoy it

You don't have to speak Spanish to enjoy it because all of the songs are in English and in Spanish. Everyone's on it. Yes, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mandy Gonzalez, Audra McDonald

Kristen Chenowitz, Ingrid Michelson and Anna Viafanya, Cynthia Arrivo, myself and a little girl named Isabella

Preston. Yeah. Jason Robert Brown wrote the song singing you home for Audra McDonald. Am I

leaving anybody out? Oh, Adina Mansell and Josh Groven. Geez. Those two. Those hacks

And Josh wrote that song with Dave Matthews, the duet that he and Adina sing. And they've been so

generous they've been singing it in their in their world tour that they had together they sang the song and talked about racist which is the organization down in Texas working full

time to reunite the families and they've been doing that since the 80s they have been you know

pro bono representing people who are underrepresented and and can't necessarily afford to

speak for themselves in a meaningful way so that's very important to me and then um

recently i started a instagram page with my friend finley triano who's 13 years old, called Safety Net, where kids who are being bullied in school can come into

our community and support each other and be supported and express how they're feeling

And, you know, I think it can really, I hope that it can make a difference

I remember, you know, being in sixth, seventh grade and really, really being bullied

And then I also remember once I got back into the fold with the cool kids, being a part of sort of nasty behavior

because I didn't want to be kicked out of the fold. So, you know, we try not to talk about it as, you know, mean kids versus nice kids

That's not what it is. There's just kids. And if those kids are hurting, they're going to act out, and they're going to act out at each other

So this is a forum where we want all kids to be able to come, but only kindness allowed

Any nastiness and they've got to go to Twitter or some other place

So anybody can go to this page? Anybody can go to this page. Yeah, and we have grownups on there

And what's nice about having the grownups is that they're able to look back. know, with their hindsight, which is always so helpful, and say, I was bullied and look at me now

And, you know, I'm so proud of Finley, who at 13 was being bullied at school

And Jenna, who's my friend from high school, her mom. So Finley's mom, Jenna and I are friends from high school

You know, she was saying, I just, my heart is breaking. I don't know what to do for her. And they came to the show, and we sat down and talked and shared our common experience and said

why don't we do something about it instead of just chatting? Why don't we open up a space for kids to, you know, hold each other with love

Isn't it great that social media can be used that way now and you can use your celebrity and your artistry

Yeah, yeah. To help and motivate. Absolutely. Any platform that I might have, I want to use for what I perceive as good

And so reuniting families, I perceive that as good, helping children who feel like they are, you know, not a part of their social circle or are being ostracized

or treated badly to me, I perceive that as good. So, you know, I invite everyone to come with me

Sure. You had this brand new fan base because of your brilliant impersonation on Melania Trump

Yeah. The first time you did that, you had like a small window of just a few hours to put her together, didn't you

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it was like five hours. And I was newly pregnant with Ella, and I had hyper-emesis, which makes you just barf constantly

And so that was really rough. I mean, the irony is not lost on me

that Melania has a no bullying initiative. And then I am also working with kids who are being bullied

I get it. It is pretty funny. And some people say that I bully her

You know I don look at political satire as bullying I try not to you know mock her in a way that feels unnecessarily cruel You know I think political satire has been a part of our democratic society since its inception

And I think it's important and I think it's funny. And whomever it offends, I'm sorry

But for me, it does feel like an act of public service in that I do think that this administration is creating a lot of

damage and harm. So while I'm doing all these other good things to try to combat that

this is my way of giving just a little breath of humor and also just the little tiniest tweak of

like, I'm not a great fan of yours in there as well. I love it. Yeah. All right, let's talk about doing

concerts. Okay, let's do. You do concerts all across the country and you're getting ready

to make your first London stage appearance, right? Yes, I am. Now where are you playing

Cadogan Hall. That's how you say it. And I've learned that. Because Chita was just there, and Chita had the best time since one of the most glorious places she's ever played

I just couldn't pronounce it. That's why I asked you to do it. I had been calling it Kattegan, which honestly sounds better, just as a recommendation

Yeah, I'm so excited. I'm going to be there June 30th, and I have some things in store for them that I'm excited about

That's great. What do you enjoy the most artistically about doing concerts and performing with your mom

My mom and I have concerts that we do together now all over the country

You know, for me, I love telling a story through song, and I love embodying a character through song, but I also love writing jokes

I also love improvisation, and I love communicating with people. So for me, not having the fourth wall there, not having to be in character all the time enables me to be improvisational, to rip off the audience, and to really just enjoy the dynamic of a live performance

And then when I enter the body of the song, I'm able to, like, be somebody else, which is really nice

You have been mentored over the years by some of the greatest performers, directors that you've worked with

Yeah. To The Comte Mine or Cheetah Rivera when you co-starred opposite her in nine

And of course, Patty Lepone, when you play Gypsy Rose Lee, winning your Tony Award in Gypsy

What life lessons did you learn from those two? Oh, man. I don't think I ever saw either one of them take a lunch break

Yeah. So just, you know, unfailing, unwavering commitment to the project. They're also company members

They were not just out for themselves. There are some performers who want to get their thing down and you can go F yourself

They are not like that. They know that you are only as good as the person you're playing opposite

So they want you to be your best. And then, you know, they're both mothers

So I learned a lot about how to be a mother in a meaningful way and also maintain your career

That was very important to me. And then, you know, when I worked with Cheetah, I was 22 years old

So, you know, I ran a lot of things by her. And same with Patty

I was 28 or 29. So, you know, they and Patty, they both continue to mentor me in a way that is so incredibly meaningful

And I just absolutely cannot believe that I get to say that that's true

You couldn't be in a better production of My Fair Lady ever than the one that Bard has put together here at Lincoln Center Theater

I mean, this production is absolutely stunning. Yes. What are you enjoying the most

Honestly, it's the culmination of life happiness and work happiness. Because I've always been so lucky to love what I do, but to have such a remarkable husband and such a beautiful child and my wonderful parents and his wonderful family and my incredible sister and her husband

And to have the life happiness and the work happiness simultaneously, that is not something I knew was possible

And I just thought that they're, you know, yin and yang, light and dark

And yes, there always will be light and dark. And yes, there always will be yin and yang. And my life is not perfect

But that I get to mother this child and be a wife to my husband and get to play this part and be so supported by him is just

just a really beautiful thing. So when you're on that turntable, like I saw you again last Sunday

you were in this beautiful silhouette, it goes up, that turntable turns around. What goes through your mind

It's thrilling. You know, it's thrilling. And I will tell you, I would not be standing there

were it not for my husband who wakes up with our child and puts our child to bed. I mean, it takes a really loving

hardworking husband and father to allow me to sleep in every day

and put her to bed four nights a week. you know, issuing traditional gender roles while working a full-time job

So what I feel is thrill and I feel a tremendous sense of gratitude

So finally, you live your life and your career with such grace and style

Thank you. So what is the best bit of advice that you've been given for your career, either personally

or professionally, that you live by? Honestly, Mary Beth Peel said to me when we did nine together, and I know this is a quote

that's not attributed to her, but I've never heard it before. But she said to me, when you meet someone

they tell you exactly who they are, and you choose whether or not to believe them

And I was like, yeah, yeah, and that's true. Yeah. This has been great

Like I said, you've opened your dressing up on a two-show day before you get ready

I love you